Carla Yarrow: Pitching for corporate giving success

For Fundraising Europe’s special focus on corporate partnerships, Carla Yarrow from Air Ambulances UK shares her tips for pitching to win a company’s support, along with some of the charity’s own experiences.

Corporate giving has long been established as playing an important role within the charity sector, by connecting both public and private businesses and their employees with causes that they care about or with which they can have a direct positive impact. This can take many different forms, from voluntary cash donations, matched employee fundraising, volunteering, payroll giving and other initiatives including in-kind donations of skills, time and resources.

In some countries though, corporate support has fallen in recent years. In the UK for example, while organizations no longer need to declare their charitable donations due to changes to the Companies Act in 2013, ESG reporting requirements mean many continue to do so. The latest CAF Giving Report shows that in 2022, FTSE100 companies donated £1.85bn to charitable organizations. This equates to just 0.8% of their annual pre-tax profits; down from 2.5% in 2016, and a real-terms decline of 17%. Despite this, 39% of charities surveyed in the 2024 Enthuse Charity Pulse Report still anticipate growth in corporate giving overall in 2024; making corporate giving a highly competitive area within the charity sector.

So how can nonprofits ensure they’re in the best possible position to win a company’s support? Here are some tips.

Understand what’s in it for them

Since the pandemic, I’ve started to see more of a shift within corporate giving towards longer-term strategic partnerships that are mutually beneficial for both charities and businesses to help create social change. A quote from one of my corporate partners, NOT in the financial sector, always sticks in my mind: “we’re not a bank”. With so many charitable organizations to choose from, companies are more able than ever to be selective in the charity (or charities) they choose to support, to maximise their own benefit to create a two-way partnership.

During the research and application process, it’s vital that you ask yourself what’s in it for them? What can they get from your charity that is different from others? And don’t be afraid to ask the question of what they want from your charity. Is it to support their ESG goals? Help with staff retention? Volunteering opportunities? Bespoke events? Skills and learning opportunities? What can your charity bring to their business? And most importantly, can you actually deliver what they want? Understanding this is vital to success.

Air Ambulances UK supports the lifesaving work of the 21 air ambulance charities across the UK

Personalise your approach

Ultimately, people donate to people. As a sector, we know the importance of building relationships with our donors, and people within corporations are no different. Understanding the people within your target company at all levels, not just the senior leadership, will help to form a more personalised pitch that is compelling across the entire business. In such a competitive arena, a blanket approach to your target corporate list simply won’t work. You need to understand each company individually as what works for one pitch, is highly unlikely to work for another.

Try contact mapping

I always suggest doing a quick contact mapping exercise across your charity at all levels (if possible) before you approach an organization; particularly for larger companies. You would be amazed at how often someone knows someone (or knows someone else who does) within your target corporate. Even a quick LinkedIn search for any first or second level connections is always useful.

Be patient

Corporate partnerships take time. Lots of time. And often, multiple attempts before you begin to see even the smallest amounts of success. Patience is key when it comes to corporate giving!

Last year we were successful at winning a partnership with an organization that we had originally begun talking to back in 2019. We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to get to the final pitch in 2020 against two other charities… but we weren’t successful. We were so close, and yet so far.

If you fail, ask for feedback

But this is where our opportunity began. We asked for feedback. Full and honest feedback – knowing it may not all be pretty! The fact that we got to the final two was proof enough that our cause was one that resonated with them and so we were over the first hurdle. But what was it that the winning charity offered that was more relevant to them? What areas did they think we needed to consider more carefully when talking with them? And importantly, did our pitch effectively convey everything that we hoped that it would? We had lots of positive feedback from the corporate, and some areas they suggested that we look at. And so we did…!

Don’t be put off by failure

Despite being unsuccessful, we kept communication with them open to continue to build those relationships and to make sure that if there was a future opportunity to pitch, we would get the chance once again. We made sure to see what they were publicly celebrating with their new charity partner and noted what activities their staff were getting engaged in. Although we didn’t yet have the partnership, we were utilizing the time to learn more about who the people in the organization were and what was important to their business from their charity partner. When the time came to apply, and then pitch, again, we knew that we were able to put together a strong pitch that was relevant to them, based on all our learning over the past few years. All that effort paid off, and we won the partnership!

Give it your all

Corporate giving is a tough space to be in, but it is also hugely rewarding. Don’t be put off by failure. You have to remember that it’s not personal, to you, your charity or the cause that you support. Sometimes it’s just not the right time and often it can take multiple applications to the same corporate organization before you even get shortlisted!  It’s vital that you learn from your unsuccessful pitches and don’t be afraid to ask for feedback. Be honest with yourself about what you can offer that corporate, and can you actually deliver what it is that they need? When the time comes to pitch, make sure your message is clear and concise. Prepare, practice, rehearse, and give it your all.

Carla Yarrow

About Carla Yarrow

Carla Yarrow is corporate partnerships manager for Air Ambulances UK (AAUK); a national charity supporting the work of the UK’s 21 air ambulance charities. She is passionate about working closely with AAUK’s national corporate supporters to maximise the impact of corporate partnerships and, together, help improve patient outcomes and save even more lives. Prior to working in the charity sector, she spent 11 years working in the hospitality industry looking after charity partnerships for one of the UK’s leading hotel management groups. Carla is also a committee member of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s Payroll Giving special interest group.